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Wait for the next release. I want usable mugs damn it!

55 (71.4%)

We can use the current one. I like the big trees and slightly smarter dorfs.

17 (22.1%)

I'll take .34.11 thanks. I want to know I'll get to kill things for sure.

5 (6.5%)

Total Members Voted: 77

[Talvieno]

Hey, guys - I know I disappeared again. I don't have much good news, I'm afraid.

My hard drive's motor went out. Basically, it'll never spin up ever again and isn't repairable, which means everything I had on it is lost. I backed up My Documents and My Pictures around six months ago, so I didn't lose everything... But I still lost (as far as I can tell, I may have it somewhere else) everything to do with Spearbreakers... or any of the other mods I'd been working on. My laptop is toast, and I'm borrowing someone else's computer just for the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to replace my laptop in the near(er) future, but until then I'm going to have to ask Mr Frog (or another willing volunteer) for assistance with the second post list.

A bit of good news, now: The one thing I backed up recently was Vanya's story, which I've been working on for the past few days on a computer that can't get online. Long story short, I'm going to try to post the rest of it - hopefully not in one huge part, though (which I won't have to do if someone posts after me before I finish reading the awesome ten pages you guys added on to the thread while I was away).

I left the ending open intentionally, but I'm not sure I'll be able to continue in any appreciable manner. I will be back, though - it'll just be intermittent. I've sold my soul to the devil (figuratively speaking) in exchange for a deal to get online occasionally - and I'm not even sure how occasionally.

@ Splint: I'm really sorry, man. I meant to stick this thread through to the end, but it's been one thing after another.

[bukitodinos]

Can i have my terory on the OP

[Talvieno]

I'm typing this up as I read. Prepare for a typical long post from me.
_____

This is going epically. lol   Stormtemplar, I love how you lost 10 dwarves with pretty much no ground gained. Very Spearbreakers right there, and bravo for keeping the fortress alive.

@ Hanslanda: Welcome back! And no, neither Splint nor Mr Frog are actually "bad guys" in my story... It's all just seen from a different perspective. From their point of view, Talvi is uncontrollable and running amok (not to mention likely to sever a few heads), and they have a spy loose in the fortress. From Vanya's point of view, Mr Frog is out to kill her and Talvi, and Splint is going along with it.

@ Mr Frog - very awesome story update... I liked your description of Joseph's place, and I'm curious - if Joseph (who I'm assuming went rogue from Parasol?) has cloning and memory alteration technology, wouldn't that make the original "version" of Mr Frog "expendable", so to speak?
Also, my brother pointed something out. No one has ever actually seen Joseph... only images on screens. It would make it completely possible for Joseph to be not a man... but an AI. (from a story standpoint - you know my opinion on the feasibility of artificial intelligences).

And no. Vanya is a reliable narrator. The part she might have supposedly disguised were the parts about where she came from, why she was there, etc. Events mentioned were supposed to happen as she mentioned them.

Spoiler: actual story spoiler (click to show/hide)

she's actually reliable enough that everything she says is true. no unreliable narrator problem to speak of.

Mr Frog seems more intense because I took the liberty (sorry ) of deciding that he gets that way when stressed or agitated. It actually meshes nicely with your most recent story's Mr Frog letting loose a string of curses and then a couple punches during and after the cloning machine fiasco.

I think it leaned more towards Mr Frog being paranoid of a common street rat, since that version probably has a few holes or abnormal events in his memory  he can't account for, unless it's set up before he was wisked away.

AND AN EPIC SAVE BY SPLINT

Yes, definitely +1. He's paranoid, but not really "paranoid" - he's got the whole Joseph deal going on. Anyone could be an enemy, and Mr Frog would only come to a conclusion, being the scientist that he is, if he believed he had evidence or acceptable proof that something is true.

PM me or maybe Talvi

I guess it's too much to ask to be called "Tal"? Eh, well. Feel free to PM me, too, Splint - just don't expect an immediate reply. Still here for you, and hope you're feeling better now.


@ Hanslanda - your Frog-nominated quote nomination is now seconded. I lol'd. Very, very epic.

@ Mr Frog (your name is hard to type in the dark for some reason) - I honestly believe time travel to be absolutely impossible, but it's fun to mess with in a story. You can't deny it. Adds a whole new level of complexity and fun/Fun to even the dullest mixtures.
And:

(Where'd Talvieno go?  )

@ Splint/Corai: Splint marrying Girlinhat is truly epic lulz.

EDIT: Ninja'd by... OH.


It's the end of the world, Splint

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.


Nothing cheers you up like Spearbreakers' misery.


@ Bukit: I've got to get off in just a second, and I'm trying like hell not to double post. As you read in my post one previous, I'm going to be having trouble handling that for a bit.

AND HERE is the ending for Vanya's story. I don't know if anyone remembers Mitch's popup necromancer book, but I included that as well. Now we have a set timeline for everything (sort of).



From Vanya's Journals
note: all of the following is copy-pasted from notepad. I'm hoping I got everything right.
PART 6

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As you read, you note that this journal is remarkably different from the previous, and not just because of the fact that it's an actual book, and not pieces of cavy posters bound together with string. While the other had sentences circled in red ink and writing in the margins, the pages of this one are clean, besides the occasional blood spatter, and the word "HARD", which is repeated several times here and there in different handwriting. There is also a strange cut slicing across the back cover. Vanya had carefully written around these, though she was still using a charred stick to form her runes.

I knew that Talvi probably wouldn't want me in her sight at the moment, given how angry she was at me, and I really, really hoped she wouldn't try to kill me... but I had to try to save her life. According to what I'd just heard, Mr Frog was likely going to try to murder her. Given how Splint was going to have at least the guards searching for me, if not the entire population of Spearbreakers, this might be the last chance to warn her that I would have.

On reaching the stairs, I hurried farther down into the fortress, counting floors until I'd reached the apartment levels. (That's something else that sets Spearbreakers apart from other fortresses: the total lack of any "you are here" engravings.) I rushed down the hallways and pounded on Talvi's door as loudly as I dared, still fearing to attract attention. When no response came from within, I assumed Talvi was ignoring me, and I knocked a second time. I was panicking: it had been the first time I'd heard someone plot a murder, and I sure as anything didn't want it to become the first time a friend of mine died when I could've saved them.

Suddenly I heard footsteps coming from behind. I crouched against the door, hiding in the shadows as I watched someone turn and walk down the corridor opposite me: it was Mr Frog, rushing off somewhere. I didn't know where he was going, and for that matter, I wasn't sure I even wanted to know... but it was the last straw for me. I turned Talvi's knob and entered her room myself, uninvited, for a second time that day, praying to the gods she wouldn't hurt me in her rage.

However, what I found surprised me: Talvi wasn't there. I wasn't sure when she could've left, as I hadn't even been gone an hour, but there was no doubt in my mind: she wasn't in the room. I quickly decided to leave and find her myself, with the hope that I would be able to track her down before Mr Frog could.
Just before I turned to leave, I noticed that the chest in the cavy room's tail had been moved aside, and the grate was lying on the floor. I remembered what Talvi had said: "Now, when I go to take care of him..." She'd been yelling at the time, but it made little difference. She was going to try to kill him, and it looked to me as if she was already on her way to do it.

Foreboding filled me. I knew what would happen when Talvi attacked him, and I didn't like it: Mr Frog would be prepared, just as he had been when I'd met him. He hadn't even known who I was, and had only had one night to prepare for me, and he'd still almost managed to take me down. But it had been less than three hours since I'd thrown my journal at him in the condemned dump... I figured that maybe how brief a time he'd had to prepare would be enough to tip the balance in Talvi's favor. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew: Talvi didn't stand a chance. When it came right down to it, she had an almost superstitious fear of Mr Frog - for instance, she believed he'd designed a poison just for her: "cavy poison". All Mr Frog would have to do to have the upper hand would be to pick up any liquid-filled glass and act like he'd dump it on her.

I bit my lip. I didn't want my friend to die, whether she hated me or not.
I did have another idea, though my timid mind shied away from it: maybe my being there would be enough to tip the balance in her favor. The only problem was, I didn't really want it to be in anyone's favor. I didn't want anyone to die, but I knew that the longer I hesitated, the less chance I'd have of saving anyone.

With rapid heartbeat, I approached the little blackened tunnel for the third time, noticing that the chest was half-blocking the entrance, almost as if someone had tried to pull it back into position from within the shaft.
I set myself down against the wall to push it aside, groaning inwardly at the task. It was a lot harder the second time: I'd been running a lot, and my legs were tired. Before, I'd had a good night's sleep to work on. Suddenly in frustration I stood and threw open the chest, the wooden lid clattering on the floor, and what I saw made me gasp. It was full of metal... beautifully designed weapons and various pieces of chain-link armor. I'd heard a rumor that Talvi had been in the military before she arrived with Splint at Spearbreakers... Perhaps, as unlikely as it seemed, it was true. Unfortunately, whether it was true or not, she'd left her weapons and armor here instead of taking them with her, so they'd be of no use.

Suddenly I was struck with an idea. Talvi might not use them, but I definitely could. I had no skill in combat, but I knew I'd have more of a chance at defending myself if I had a weapon. I reached into the chest and tested the weight of various pieces. The armor was too heavy for me to lift, and the jeweled axes felt heavy in my hands, but I found a dagger near the bottom, made of a silvery metal. It was beautifully designed, and it reminded me of the elven weapon I'd found in the wagon tunnel. Picking it up, I tested it out, and was surprised to find that it rested so comfortably in my palm; I almost felt it had been made just for me. After digging around until I found another that matched it, I tucked both blades away at my waist. With slightly strengthened confidence, I braced myself against the wall once more for a final push at the heavy chest.
Unfortunately, I'll admit my recently-won confidence drained away when I peered into the darkness again, but I steeled myself against it, thinking the same thoughts as before, and went inside. I couldn't help my fast-paced breath, or the tear I wiped from my cheek, but I was moving forwards. I hoped that was enough.

As I neared the end of the tunnel, I heard someone speak. It startled me, and my heart leapt into my throat, but I made myself crawl around the last bend... and then I stopped in surprise: the papered-over grate in Mr Frog's room had been moved. Within the tunnel I was deep in shadows, but if someone was to peer inside, they would almost certainly see me.
"But of course!" said a man I'd never heard before. "I'd be more than happy to assist you. Simply state what you desire, Mr Frog, and I'll do my very best." The voice sounded friendly... so friendly that it made my stomach turn. To me, it sounded like an act, and I dreaded meeting the speaker. Then I heard another voice I knew I'd dread meeting even more.
"I'm only doing this so that I have more options at hand." It was Mr Frog himself. I crept a little farther down the tunnel and looked inside the room. Mr Frog was standing by a table, holding something in his hand and looking at it with an expression of annoyance.
Someone laughed joyfully. I looked around, with what limited vision the tunnel offered me, but the person it came from appeared to be out of my field of vision. "Of course, of course! A one-time favor. You understand, though, that I never grant favors without expecting a favor in return." I could imagine a face smiling sweetly as those words were said.
It was only then that it hit me: I'd come all that way for nothing. Talvi wasn't there, and there was no sign that she'd ever even been there at all. Still... I thought that perhaps I might get my bracelet back.
Mr Frog's brow furrowed and he frowned. "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."
"You would not, no, but you're in luck, my friend. I already know what it is you would ask!"
"You usually do," Mr Frog replied tersely.
"Ah, I see, I see - it is something you have come to expect of me, is it not? Do you still doubt me? We would work well together, you know."
Mr Frog's expression darkened. "I told you not to mention that again until I'd had more time."
"My mistake, my mistake. Now, what you desire is a grade four amnesiac for your young woodcutting friend, is it not? You would also like to inform me that the previous dose you administered was ineffective, and had unusual effects. Have you studied these effects, my dear Mr Frog?"
"I have not." Mr Frog seemed to hate admitting it, but a new hope surged through me: maybe he didn't want to kill Talvi after all. He was asking a friend for an amnesiac that would actually work. I hated the idea of Talvi forgetting anything forever, but it was far, far better than her death.
The voice continued. "Ah, shame, shame. You ought to have, like the scientist you are, my good friend. But! Not to worry, not to worry. I already know what it is that happened, and have prepared for it."
"But what -"
"No need to speak, my friend, I will explain. You've performed many experiments on the woman, have you not?"
Mr Frog nodded slowly. It only then dawned on me: he was nodding and talking to the little brick of metal he was holding. "You know I have," Mr Frog said in annoyance. "Why bother asking?"
"It is a scientist's job to ask questions. You know that, dear friend. Tell me - did it ever occur to you that you might've altered our young Talvi's DNA? That her chromosomes might not be the same as those of an average dwarf's?"
I didn't understand a word he said, though Mr Frog seemed to. "Yes, of course I did. It was what I was going for."
"Did you design the amnesiac you administered to overcome these alterations?" The voice had taken on an almost motherly tone, which sounded bizarre in my ears.
The expression on Mr Frog's face could only be described as defensive. "I didn't have the equipment necessary, and what I have here is too primitive. Look, are you going to provide me with it or not? I need it quickly, and I don't have all the time in the world, unlike you."
I imagine the owner of the voice didn't even bat an eyebrow at Mr Frog's rudeness. "Patience, patience, my dear friend. I, too, am a busy man. But I know you have an event of great importance happening in... what is it now... thirty minutes?"
"How do you know these things?"
"I see all," the voice said slowly. "The drug you desire will be at drop zone 21-Alpha in approximately... two minutes. I won't ask your favor now, my friend, but I assure you I will not forget it." I heard an odd sound, and Mr Frog placed the little tablet on the table in front of him, shaking his head. Drawing his cloak about him, he turned, marching briskly to the door. Moments later, he was gone.

Cautiously, I crept all the way to the end of the tunnel. I waved my arm about inside his room, jerking it back towards me just in time to avoid several volleys of glass darts coming from different directions. Slowly, cautiously, I poked my head out and looked around carefully for traps. I saw none, but felt a sinking feeling that if there were any traps in the room at all, I wouldn't be able to see them until it was too late. Even so, I entered Mr Frog's room, though not without hesitation. I glanced at his nightstand, as if my bracelet might still be there, but it was as I'd expected. If my bracelet was in the room, he'd hidden it somewhere else.

I walked slowly past the different tables, looking each of them over carefully for any glimpse of my little keepsake. Almost everything looked untouched since I'd been here last, with the exception of some of the glass equipment and machinery on the closer tables. Those at the farther sides of the room, back in the shadows, looked almost as if they hadn't been touched in years.


It startled me so terribly when I heard it that I almost fell over: a ringing sound, like bells, but different and clearer. Out of curiosity, I sought out the source, and what I found mystified me. The object making the sound was a little blue-silver brick of metal, but the interesting thing wasn't the coloration, or even the unusual shape, but the fact that scrolling across the flat pane of glass embedded in its surface were dwarf runes made of nothing but colored light.
"Magic..." I whispered in awe. I'd heard of it before, and believed the stories, but until then I'd never actually seen magic in action.
The runes continued to dance past, and the bell sound beeped urgently. I read the scrolling text: "Tap to accept call."
I decided to try to make it stop making noise. I was sure it could be heard in the hallway outside the door, and besides that, I knew Mr Frog could be back at any moment. I picked it up, trying to find a lever on the side, or a pressure plate I could push to make it stop. Suddenly I heard a familiar voice.
"Ah, at last. It took you long enough to answer..." I almost dropped the little device in surprise, but managed to keep a hold on it, turning it around until I saw the face of the speaker, whose face appeared, animated, on the glass pane.
He had a perfect face: a chiseled chin, smooth cheekbones, and eyes set perfectly; everything about him was symmetrical. It rather reminded me of the perfection in the portraits artists would engrave on walls and floors. In a sense, it seemed... artificial. His face didn't look dwarven at all, but rather human, and the expression was almost one of disgust.
"Are you not going to speak? Are you deaf, are you mute? Are you... blinded by my radiance?" he asked with heavy sarcasm. It was the same voice as the person had who'd talked to Mr Frog, but the tone was entirely different now.
"H... hello..." I managed timidly, in barely more than a whisper. Someone was using magic to talk to me... it was incredible, but scary at the same time. I had a hard time looking past that fact and listening to what the man was saying.
"Ah, there you go. I knew you would be there to answer the call. I only hoped you possessed the... intelligence... to actually respond."
I hardly noticed the insult, and asked quietly, "Why are you talking to me?"
"You don't need to hold the tablet so close to your face..." he said. I apologized and moved it farther away, trying to match how Mr Frog had held it. "Thank you..." he said slowly. Then he continued, "I've been watching you for some time. You've done exactly as I expected - no more, no less. You've actually furthered my cause greatly - far more than the dull-witted Talvi ever managed." He said this last with extreme distaste.
Realization swept over me. "You're Joseph..." I said in astonishment.
His face never changed, but I imagined a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. "Ah, you figured it out. Good for you, good for you. Unfortunately, I regret to inform you that I no longer have need of your assistance." He glanced downwards for a moment, as if reading something,and then back up at me. "You're a liability now, Vanya. Do you know what that means?"
Fear gripped my heart again, and I had to force myself to remain calm. "You're going to kill me, aren't you..." I whispered.
"Yes, of course, of course," he replied in his slow, unamused tone. "A common lab rat would have the sense to figure that out, though you're wrong in one respect: I'm not going to be the one to kill you. You see... I have other people carry out my wishes. When those people cease to be of aid, I have them terminated by my other assistants, and I like it best when those other assistants don't realize they're only doing what I wished them to - just like you've been doing for the past week." He paused, and for a moment I felt sure I saw a smile twitch across his face. "Did you realize at any point in the past week that you were simply a pawn? Did you realize you were expendable; did you realize you were only doing the bidding of another? Of course not, of course not. The lab rat never wonders what is outside its maze; it only goes straight for the cheese at the end."
I shook my head in horror. Everything had started making sense. "It's you... You're the enemy Talvi told Splint about, and you're manipulating Mr Frog into doing what you want him to! Almost as if... almost as if he's only a pawn to you, too... just like me..." I couldn't believe it. How could someone who used magic be so, so evil; how could anyone have so little respect for the lives of other people? How could anyone care for nothing but their own gain?
He smiled in wry amusement. "Ah, little Vanya... You foolish young woman... This is exactly why you're a liability. Your cause opposes mine, and I knew you would come to that conclusion eventually. You know too much. I only let Splint live because as he and Mr Frog work together, the whole of Spearbreakers works, more or less, for me."
I shook my head violently as I clutched the lightweight tablet in my hands. "No," I said, unwilling to accept it. "You can't kill me, you won't!" I paused. "And Mr Frog won't, either," I added, though I doubted the truth of that last.
He smiled again. "Ah, and now I can answer your original question: 'Why are you talking to me?'. You see, my young friend, while we spoke, I delayed you long enough for the method of your execution to arrive."
I heard a noise: the sound of someone unlocking the hallway door from outside.
"Goodbye, and pleasant dreams, little rat," Joseph said with a sardonic smile, and his image faded from the tablet, which went black in my hands.

☆

edit:

The following error or errors occurred while posting this message:
The message exceeds the maximum allowed length (40000 characters).

damn.
Oh well, I'll have to double/triple post. "For shame, for shame," I know, but I don't have more than a couple more minutes to be on, and I don't know when I'm getting back. I spent quite a while getting all of this ready, and I don't want it to go to waste.

[Talvieno]

From Vanya's Journals
PART 7

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is a journal borrowed from the dead by the dwarf, Vanya. Despite how much danger she was in during her previous entries, the fact that her flowing script continues on the following pages indicates that if nothing else, she was still alive to write it.

I had always thought of magic as purely good, used by the kindest-hearted wizards in the world. I believed it the stuff of legends... of knights in shining adamantine armor fighting the dragons who sought to eat dwarven maidens. I thought it the stuff of kings and fortresses, of mines and forges, of dense woodlands protected by crossbowmen in exile. Yet I believed every bit of it to be true, ever since I was a little child... as far back as I can remember, really. When I saw it for myself, I wasn't confused, or bewildered, but excited. It was only fate's cruel irony that my first encounter with it was due in part to the most evil person I've ever known... and he who I now consider my greatest enemy.

~~~

Even as Joseph's face faded from the glass embedded in the little magical tablet, the door to the hallway opened. It was who I feared it would be: Mr Frog, carrying a bag under his arm. He saw me almost instantly, and scowled with hatred. "You..." he said darkly, slamming the door behind him. When he saw the tablet in my hands, he fumed with rage. I put it down as quickly as I could, but he'd placed his bag down on a table nearby and was already advancing towards me.
I’m ashamed to say that retreat was the first thing in my mind: I glanced behind me at the tunnel to Talvi's room, but knew that if I tried to escape through it, he'd be sure to catch up with me.
When I turned back, Mr Frog was only five feet away from me, and was taking down some kind of sword from the pillar beside him. I was stunned by what I saw next: when he swung it in a ">" shape as if to test it, it rattled to life, and the edges of the sword flickered in the torchlight. It was magical, and it made a horrible metallic sound like so many clinking chains.
I backed away from him slowly, afraid of what he might do.
He didn't follow me, but stayed where he was in the shadow of the pillar. "Don't worry, little spy..." he said, watching me carefully as I backed towards the passage entrance on the floor.  "This will all be over sooner than you think." Saying this, he placed a hand on the pillar beside him and pulled a lever.
My shoulder stung briefly, and I looked downwards to see that two tiny darts had pierced the sleeve of my blouse and stuck themselves in my shoulder. I yelped in surprise and pulled them out, tossing them to the floor as Talvi's words echoed in my mind: "He's gonna be well-prepared, I tell you what." I looked at him, shaking my head in shock: Splint had told him I was to be captured, not killed! "You can't kill me," I said weakly, imagining the poison pouring through my veins. If he'd poisoned me, I'd have at best just a few minutes to live, unless I could find some kind of antidote.
The edges of his dark cloak brushed lightly against the floor as he advanced towards me, holding the magical steel sword at the ready in his hand. "No, Vanya," he said scornfully, "Splint wanted me to spare your life, but there are some things he can't understand. I know you're a spy, but you're not the spy he believes you to be, and you pose no threat to him. Interrogation would only tell him things he can't know or understand. I know who you are... and you need to die."
I looked around desperately for some means of escape, but Mr Frog was approaching me more rapidly now. Suddenly I remembered what I carried at my waist, and pulled the daggers out. They flickered beautifully in the dim torchlight of Mr Frog's room, but it was small comfort to a girl doomed to die.
Mr Frog slowed for a moment, looking at the weapons in my hands. "You come armed..." he mused, "This will be interesting... but it will still be brief." He charged, swinging the sword in an arc downwards towards my head.
I cringed, holding the knives up in an "X" to block, and as the sword came down, it almost ripped them out of my hands. My arms vibrating, I looked up at Mr Frog's face, and saw yellow sparks from the crossed weapons raining down around me. Too late did I realize why Mr Frog had stopped attacking: with his free hand, he pulled the beanie from my head, revealing my pointed ears peeking from behind my hair.
I flushed crimson, but he took no notice. "Vanya Carena, the elf," he said slowly, with a sort of grim satisfaction. "Your file was so easy to find. Trainee spy of Ballpoint Technologies, I presume, here to collect information on my whereabouts and progress?" As he stepped away from me, the sparks ceased, and he tossed my little hat to the side. "Information like the blueprints from my journal that you stole and blamed on poor Talvi... It’s fortunate that that's going to be the last thing you steal." He charged again, swinging the humming blade. I tried to leap aside, but the sword caught the edge of my blouse, tugging at it as it cut. "And you can't even fight!" he finished with a dry smile.
Apprehensively, I felt for blood, but found to my relief that I was uninjured. He had hit in the spot that I'd tucked my journal, and that had possibly saved me from being cut. "That's not who I am," I said, trying my best to raise my voice above my drumming heart.
Had he been anyone else, I'm sure Mr Frog would've rolled his eyes. "Come now, it will all be over soon. Wouldn't you like to speak the truth for once?" He stepped forwards and swung again. I dodged it, barely, but stumbled backwards and fell. The blade whirred down towards my chest, and I rolled to the side, jumping to my feet and holding out my weapons in defense, which seemed so small in comparison to his sword.
"I'm not who you think I am!" I shrieked in fright, trying to get away, without taking my eyes off my aggressor. "I'm just ‘Vanya’! I don't even know who my parents were!"
He walked towards me at a brisk pace, his cloak fluttering out behind him. "Your file said as much, Carena. Your faked journal wasn't all lies, but the little sister never existed - not in the lists of Ballpoint or Spearbreakers."
My sister, I thought. As he struck out at me again, I twirled towards his left, striking twice with Talvi's daggers as I spun. I felt my ragged linen skirt swirling about my knees; felt my hair whipping about my face. As his blade came down for a second pass, I held up my knives and deflected it to the side. Hope sprang forth anew, and I almost smiled: years ago, my little sister and I used to play at swordfighting with sticks. I was out of practice, but I hoped it would be enough of an edge to keep me alive. The memory of her fueled me and renewed my confidence.
Mr Frog stopped, stepping back and examining the two slashes in his cloak. He looked up at me with a deadly fury in his eyes, but now I was almost able to brush it away. "My name isn't Carena," I said defiantly, and he rushed me again.

It came easier now: he struck, I twirled and spun; he sliced, I caught his weapon and sent it to the side. My breath was heavy, and I was still scared as anything, but I was alive.
Mr Frog stopped for a moment and looked at me - what was it I saw a hint of in his eyes? Admiration? Approval?
"Very nice," he said in his deep voice, "This is a bit closer to what I'd expect of you." He turned and tapped the wall next to him.
A blade swung down from the ceiling towards my face.
I flipped backwards to avoid it.
Despite the fear I was in, that made me angry... it was an unfair move: something I could neither block nor deflect, and I'd had no warning or reason to expect it.
Grabbing up some of the corked bottles from the nearby tables, I flung them at him, hoping they would explode and set him on fire or something. He dodged most of them, but the last one broke as he blocked, splattering the contents over his weapon. "Stop! You fool, stop!" he yelled.
I threw another, but it missed, bouncing off the machinery to the right of him and shattering on the floor. A sky-blue liquid rushed out, splashing his cape and hissing over the stony floor, which it seemed to sink into. It shimmered as it faded away, leaving an almost mirrored surface on the stone.
I glanced back at Mr Frog, who was seething with hatred. "And that's exactly what I'd expect of you," he spat out through clenched teeth. "You mindless brutes of Ballpoint Tech - all you can accomplish is petty thievery and senseless destruction!" He swung his sword in an arc and stormed towards me, his rattling blade smoking and throwing sparks. His cloak, torn and billowing behind him, shimmered with a pale blue light from the liquids I’d thrown. "But why aren't you dead yet?!" he yelled, and swung the sword towards me with both hands.
I ducked away from it, rolling to my feet behind him and striking with my dagger, but I only carved another slash across his cloak.
He spun, swinging his sword again and again. It was all I could do to deflect it and keep from falling over as he backed me towards the wall.
Suddenly my bare feet hit something that felt less than solid… I glanced downwards and saw I was sliding across the shimmering floor where the flask had shattered. I looked back up just in time to catch the sword between my crossed knives.
As we slid backwards across the mirrored surface, Mr Frog forced his sword closer and closer to my head with both his hands, his face contorted with rage. Sparks were flying everywhere from his sword, and a strange blue smoke was rising from it towards the ceiling. I knew I couldn't keep it up much longer... I was almost spent, and he was a lot stronger than I was.
Reaching the edge of the slippery patch, I felt friction beneath my feet once more, quickly ducking and leaping to the side. Mr Frog's sword hit the floor with a clang, and the rattling noise it was making began to sound strained. Without waiting to see why, I struck out at him, slashing several times and praying I’d be able to hit him for once... but I didn't.
"You can't even hit me!" he mocked, and as I backed away in fear, he straightened, regaining his composure. Leaping at me, he struck again. I caught his blade and sent it to the side.
"They kept you, and got rid of me," he said as coolly as if making dinner conversation, though I could see the hatred in his eyes. "I have practically no official combat training, and I still have the upper hand. Not only that, but I doubt you even understood any of what you stole."
He struck again, but I spun away from the blow.
"They were going to terminate me - did they tell you that? An occasional drink or smoke never hurt anyone, but they were going to kill me for it. Yet they keep you... and you're nothing but a pretty face."

It was an insult I'd heard before, but one that always hit particularly close to home. It hurts like anything when people can't look past your appearance to see what you're capable of, and I snapped, throwing one of my daggers at him. With reflexes like lightning, he blocked with the flat of his blade. Somehow the dagger seemed to entangle itself in the edge of his sword, which fell silent, its rattling and throwing sparks abruptly coming to an end.
Mr Frog examined the blade with a critical eye.
 I swallowed involuntarily. I'd just foolishly thrown away one of my weapons, and I knew that just one would never be enough to defend myself with. As fear began to grip my heart, Mr Frog spoke.
I expected anger, but he seemed collected, though somewhat annoyed. "I should thank you," he said slowly, hanging the damaged weapon on the pillar where it had come from. "You just did me a great assistance with my research, though you didn't know it. I've been needing to test that weapon's breaking point in a combat situation for some time now. However," he added, removing another weapon from the wall, "you've destroyed much of my equipment, and made a great mess of my laboratory." As he looked over his new weapon - a pike with a geared blade like a saw at the butt end - he continued, his brow furrowing with contained loathing, "Not only that, but you're taking far too long to kill. I have somewhere I need to be in a very short time, and now I'm running behind schedule."
Suddenly the saw on the pike whirred to life like magic, spinning so fast I couldn't see the teeth. I watched it for a moment in terrified fascination, and he leapt at me.
My confidence was gone, and it was all I could do to dodge the wide arc that the saw-pike could cleave through the air. Only moments later I was forced to block as the blade came at me sideways. I leapt out of the way, but the toothed gear ripped the dagger from my hands, throwing it at the ceiling, which rippled almost like water as the weapon bounced off it. I gasped, wondering what magic it was that Mr Frog practiced in such secret.
Stepping forward, Mr Frog swung again, and I threw myself backwards onto my hands to avoid it, yelling in fear as the blade screamed over me, inches from my face. I tried to get to my feet again, but he was already upon me, holding it inches from my chest. I backed away, looking for something I could grab - anything - to throw at him, but my groping hands found nothing, and I found myself backed against the hallway door.
Mr Frog held the spinning blade steady inches from my neck. I tilted my chin upwards, fearing it’d be cut apart. "But why aren't you dead yet?" he asked slowly, but he sounded more curious than loathing.
Tears began to stream down my cheeks. I didn't want to die. I didn't want anyone to die, really, but especially not me. I could feel the wind on my neck from the spinning saw blade Mr Frog was holding so near, and I knew I only had moments to live.
"Really, why aren't you dead?" he questioned with furrowed brow, examining me with the curious eye of a scientist. "The biochemical in those darts should've done its job by now... Why hasn't your kill switch been activated?” He paused, tilting his head. Then, louder, he asked me, “What did you do? What did they give you?"
Blinking back my tears, I whispered, "Maybe I'm not who you think I am."
For a moment, I saw a glimmer of hope that he might spare my life, but it was gone when he responded: "Perhaps so. Perhaps you're just an elvish spy, as Splint thought. But either way... after all you've seen... you know too much." He drew back the sawpike, spinning the sharp end around to face me. As it swung back towards my chest, I screamed in terror.

But I wasn't the only one who screamed: from behind Mr Frog came a horrible war-cry in a voice that I recognized instantly: it was Talvi.

☆

PART 8

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is a stolen journal. It has its moments of dullness and the runes are flowing. You cannot help but wish it had been a pop-up book like the one Mitchewawa had claimed credit for finding.

I know I ended the last entry on a bit of an exciting point, but dinner had arrived. Still... I don't have much else to do, so I'm just going to continue with what I had been writing. I don't want to forget to write anything down, as I still want to get this published so that people can read it. I don't really need the money right now, but it would be nice if people at least knew my story. It would make it all feel worthwhile... even if it couldn't make any of it better. Maybe it's just a fantasy I'd be better off without, but I can't help it.

~~~

Just as Mr Frog prepared to stab me through the heart with the spear point of his sawpike, Talvi leapt from the shadows behind him, yelling, "FOR MAH CAVIES!!!"
I don't know how long she'd been watching us, to time her leap so perfectly, but it caught Mr Frog by surprise. He spun, holding the shaft of the sawpike between two outstretched hands, and just barely managed to catch the handle of Talvi's axe against it, staggering backwards under the weight of the blow.
The newly-sharpened blade of Talvi's well-worn woodcutting axe glinted in the torchlight as she drew back for another strike, but Mr Frog got out of the way as it came down, snatching a package from a bag on a nearby table as he went. He ripped away the parchment wrapping, revealing a cylinder of glass with a tiny needle at the front: a syringe. Mr Frog had invented them just this past year, and gotten Mitchewawa's new doctors to use them at the hospital. I assumed the amnesiac was contained within the one he held, as he seemed to be looking for an opening in Talvi's defense so that he could use it.

"Mr Frog!" Talvi yelled, stalking towards him with axe drawn over her shoulder. She wore no armor, but looking back now, I'm not sure how her pudgy form would've been able to fit into it - especially not the slender-fit armor in the chest in her room. "Mr Frog, you killed mah cavies! You knocked me over th' head jes' like any right mugger, and now you're tryin' t' kill mah V girl!" She gave me a wink before laying another crushing blow towards Mr Frog from the side.
Mr Frog managed to block with the shaft of his sawpike, but just barely. The weight behind Talvi's axe nearly knocked him off his feet, and he dropped the little syringe, which rolled across the floor and into a darkened corner.
"Talvi, I did what I had to for the sake of science, and I had Splint's permission to do it," he said, stabbing the spinning blade towards my friend, who easily knocked it aside with her weapon. "As to hitting you over the head, I'm sorry, but you stole my PEA and you weren't supposed to know about it!" He sounded less confident now than he had while fighting me.
"That don't matter none! I dun even know what one'f them P-E-A's is, nohow!" Talvi struck at him again and he jumped aside, trying to get to the little needle, but Talvi saw what he was after. She rushed forwards, swinging like a mad woman (which she possibly still was), and Mr Frog retreated. Upon reaching the syringe, she crushed it under her foot.
That seemed to make Mr Frog switch gears. "Talvi, I wanted to settle this without bloodshed, but now you've left me no choice." Saying this, he swung the screaming blade of his sawpike towards her, but she batted it down.
Talvi jumped away from the blade as it came around for a second pass, albeit somewhat clumsily. She seemed no stranger to the weapon, possibly from all her stalking of the dwarf. Backing farther away, she screamed back at him, "Well you ain't ne'er killed nobody! Heard you tell Splint so myself, and I don't bet worth a cloud's stomach you could kill me now!" She stood defiantly in the middle of the room.

I was frozen in terror. I didn't want either one of them to be killed, despite the fact that Mr Frog had been trying to kill me only moments before. If Talvi killed Mr Frog, she'd be executed for her crime... it was the dwarven way of dealing justice.
 
Mr Frog approached her at a run, his torn and battered cloak fluttering behind him. Talvi dodged the spinning blade and got in closer, swinging her axe as if she was trying to fell a tree. Mr Frog spun his shaft and blocked, and though he took a step back, he didn't stagger. "Talvi, I can do anything I set my mind to." He knocked her axe aside with the pike end and stabbed towards her. She leapt backwards, but not in time to avoid the pointed metal.
I screamed.
Talvi seemed to grow even angrier, though, and grabbed the shaft with her oversized hand, trying to wrest it from Mr Frog's grasp. The silvery glint of chain mail showed through the jagged hole in her shirt.
They struggled together: As Mr Frog tried to keep the spinning blade behind his shoulder from cutting into him, Talvi pulled, bringing him and his weapon in closer. Then she released it, for a two-handed downwards swing of her axe towards his head.
Mr Frog got under the sawpike's shaft, just in time to catch Talvi's weapon and throw it to the side. Standing, he jabbed towards her again, and Talvi countered with a swing of her own. As Mr Frog stepped away from it, he nearly lost his footing, sliding across the shimmering substance I'd spilled on the floor minutes before. Talvi followed in a fury, laying down one strike after another. He blocked and parried, but suddenly reached to the side and grabbed a vial of liquid.
My friend stopped. "Mr Frog, don't you - " Her words were interrupted as the glass shattered at her feet, splashing onto her legs. "Cavy poison!" she screeched, leaping backwards from it in dismay. I got up and moved to where I could have a better view, and bit my lip as I saw that her legs seemed almost to be smoking.
Mr Frog reached for another vial, but with a scream of rage Talvi charged him like a bull. He swung his sawpike towards her, but she batted it aside as a minor nuisance.
"Mr Frog!" Talvi screamed, readying for another strike, "I loved you!" she swung her weapon towards him in a wide arc, slicing open some of the strange machinery on the table beside them, which erupted in flickering lightning and a shower of sparks.
"I'll admit that potion did more than I expected it to!” Mr Frog caught the axe's handle with the shaft of his weapon, his reflexes as sharp as ever, and sent his saw blade down towards her head with as much force as he could. She blocked with the handle of her axe above her head, but almost couldn't hold it.

They stood there for a moment, glaring at each other in fury, panting from exertion. Sweat poured down their faces, beginning to stain their clothes, as sparks flew from the machines and another shower of them cascaded downwards from their crossed weapons. The shimmering surface of the mirroring floor caught fire, tiny flames licking across its surface towards Mr Frog's cloak, which sprouted tiny flames of its own. At the same time, Talvi's shoes caught fire and began smoking.

But Mr Frog took no notice. Without warning, he pulled his sawpike back and stabbed the whirring blade towards Talvi’s chest. I shrieked in horror as she stumbled backwards, clutching for something to hold onto, her axe hanging limply in her hand. Mr Frog continued, pressing the screeching weapon against her with as much force as he could muster, as the blade clattered and groaned in protest.
Suddenly Talvi regained her footing and knocked his weapon roughly to the side with the flat of her axe. A huge hole gleamed through her shirt, showing the jagged, twisted links of broken chain mail, which glittered in the light, as smoke from the fires began to cloud the ceiling.
As she readied her axe once more, she glared at him in the fury of a woman scorned, growling, "You drugged me, Mr Frog? I di'n't make you o'erseer for no good reason other'n that??"
"You did just as I wanted you to, Talvi," he said calmly, leaping towards her, as his flaming, jagged cloak billowed back. "And I drugged you many, many times."
She caught his strike, and with a kick sent him tumbling backwards towards the flames that were licking their way across the floor. As he attempted to get to his feet, she struck at him repeatedly with one hand, driving him back towards me as they slid across the shimmering ground.
The ceiling briefly erupted in a spray of water, dousing the flickering fires spread around the room. The shimmering, mirrored surface of the altered floor appeared to melt away, revealing solid stone.
Talvi swung one last blow at Mr Frog, knocking him onto his back. She stood over him menacingly, and the fire faded from her eyes, replaced with a grim determination. "Mr Frog," she said in her country accent, her chest heaving with heavy breath, "You's jes' as bad as Joseph, mebbe worse. You ain't never gonna poison nobody again." She swung her axe blade downwards towards him.
At the last moment, he rolled aside and swung his sawpike shaft around her, catching her in the back with a loud crack.
Talvi screamed in pain and fell to her knees.
Mr Frog, tired and haggard, pulled himself to his feet beside her and said, "I'm sorry, Talvi."
I looked around desperately for some way to save my friend, and my eyes lighted on a tiny package inside a bag on a nearby table.
He couldn't see the wicked gleam in her eye that I could, as she suddenly swung her axe around, parallel to the floor. It caught him in the back of the knee, and he fell backwards, his weapon arm trapped beneath him. Talvi quickly moved on top of him, pinning his arms to the floor and holding the blade of her axe, hovering, over his throat.
I leapt for the bag on the table and snatched out the little object.
Talvi whispered, "Ah'm sorry, Mr Frog," just as I slammed the needle of a syringe into her arm.

She collapsed to the side. Turning her head and clutching her arm, she looked up at me with an innocent, bewildered look in her eyes that made my eyes swim with moisture. "V..." she said quietly, a tear trickling down her face, "you done betrayed me too, now... How could you? You, V... I took you in, kept you safe... we was friends."
I shook my head, as tears began to stain my cheeks. I hadn't wanted anyone to die. Not even Mr Frog.
Her gaze left mine, her eyes dizzying into a fog, and she slumped forwards atop Mr Frog. I backed away in disbelief at what I’d done, and grabbed my beanie from the floor where Mr Frog had thrown it.

Mr Frog started to try to move her body off him, and I didn't stay to watch. Jamming my little hat down on my head, over the ears I was so ashamed of, I ran to the door, throwing the lock and bolting outside.

I ran down the corridors of the apartment level and up the stairs, hoping to reach the farm level and get back through the little tunnel to the condemned dump. I had hopes that Mr Frog wouldn't have taken my belongings with him, and that I might be able to recover something... perhaps my old quilt, or my hairbrush.
As I exited the stairs onto the level of the mushroom farms, I heard someone nearby calling out. "You! It's you!" a male’s voice yelled. I turned to look at the speaker. It was Mitchewawa, coming at me and pointing his finger accusingly.
I turned and ran. I didn't know how much longer I'd be able to keep this up before I collapsed from exhaustion, but I'd rather collapse anywhere besides ten feet from Mitch.

Dodging dwarves that were hauling things to and from the caravan, I headed towards the trade depot by the old wagon road. I thought that if I could make it that far, I might be able to find that little hidden tunnel that led into the dump.
As Splint passed by, I ducked into an alcove and tried unsuccessfully to breathe quietly. Fortunately, he was so absorbed in his duties that he didn't notice, but he stopped only a few feet away to talk to one of the guards. He was talking about me.
I waited - it seemed like forever before finally, finally, he moved on.

As soon as he left, I made a break for it, and was almost stunned to find Talvi ahead of me.
"Hey there, V," she said with a big smile and a nod. Her shirt had been changed.
I’m not sure how the amnesiac had accomplished its job so quickly, but she seemed to have forgotten absolutely everything that had happened in the past few days. She just seemed... blissful. She was happier than I'd seen her in a long, long time, and I had to fight the urge to throw my arms around her, I was so glad she was all right. I only waved back, wiping away the tears of joy that threatened to fall.
With a wink, she turned back and continued towards the depot, and as I needed to go in the same direction, I followed her, into the huge underground courtyard that housed the trading depot.

A new small caravan, or something like it, was coming in from the entrance to the wagon road. I got up against the wall to wait for them to pass, but suddenly I heard screaming: "He's turning! He's turning!" someone yelled, causing everyone to panic. I had no idea what was going on, and slinked into a corner.
Then I saw him again: the big, strong dwarf with the lantern jaw. He was talking to Talvi and pointing down the hallway, deeper into the fortress. As she nodded and left at a brisk pace, he drew his sword, jogging towards the direction of the screaming.
My heart fluttered. He was so close to me now.
Guards were evacuating everyone from the depot, but they didn't see me and I was left behind. I didn't understand what the fuss was about… the yelling had stopped, and the soldiers seemed less on edge. As far as I could tell, they’d already taken care of the problem.

Then I almost fainted. Right in front of me, less than fifteen feet away, a dwarf began to transform. He seemed to grow and split his armor, his skin shriveling and changing to a pallid, deathly hue as his muscles shrank away, his bony arms stretching to an unnatural length.
I shrieked in terror, and for a moment, Lantern-jaw looked straight at me. Then he saw the misshapen dwarf who was twisting and writhing like a worm, and after shouting a few orders, he charged.
But the transforming creature hadn't finished: it shuddered, and its front split in two halves, creating a deep gash from mouth to abdomen, ringed with hundreds upon hundreds of long, sharp teeth.
It was a Holistic Spawn. I'd just seen one transform right in front of me, and now I knew: the stories were real. I wasn't sure whether to vomit, scream, or cry... I just wanted more than anything to become really, really invisible.

Lantern-jaw reached the abomination and scored a clean strike straight through the head with his spear. I almost cheered, expecting the monster to fall to the ground, dead, but the spawn appeared unaffected, flinging Lantern-jaw against the wall beside me before extracting the spear and tossing it nonchalantly in my direction.
I rushed over to where Lantern-jaw lay, and knelt, putting my hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat… before I remembered: he was wearing a breastplate. His eyes opened, and he shook his head as if to clear it.
"Are you hurt?" I asked him quietly, hardly aware of the battle raging behind me, as I heard another dwarf scream a battle cry and rush the monster.
He shook his head again in response, and looked back at his enemy, trying to struggle to his feet.
I turned around and saw another dwarf hit the monster in the chest, just before being ripped in two, blood spattering everywhere. I stared in shock, my mouth hanging open - I’d just witnessed death. Lantern-jaw seemed to be taking it even harder than I was... it must have been his friend.
Suddenly I screamed: the Spawn had turned, and was approaching us at an incredible pace, using its freakishly long arms to help it gallop forwards. The axe stuck in its chest seemed hardly an annoyance to the creature.
I glanced at Lantern-jaw. He was having trouble standing straight, as he staggered towards his weapon unsteadily.
The spawn was almost on us, but it wasn't headed for me... it was headed for the soldier.

It all happened so fast.
I screamed and sprinted at Lantern-jaw, throwing my full weight at him in a flying leap. We fell to the side as the Spawn's chest mouth gnashed against the wall, having missed us completely.
I looked at the soldier's face... he looked me in the eyes and nodded in appreciation. <3 No one ever looks a skulker in the eyes. I almost melted, before I heard a scream behind me, and the monster fell dead, having shattered its own heart with the axe that it’d just crushed farther into its chest.

Other dwarves rushed towards us, checking on whether the Spawn was actually dead and picking up the fragments of armor that had been destroyed by the transformation. Lantern-jaw pulled himself to his feet, shaking his head slowly, and walked unsteadily towards the center of the room. I followed by him, lending what assistance I could and trying to help him stand straight, though I'm not even sure he even realized I was there.
Without warning, he turned towards the other side of the depot. A dwarf was standing there, in a dark, hooded robe that concealed his face in shadow. The dwarf motioned, and Lantern-jaw straightened, pulling his arm from my hand and following the mysterious hooded figure down a hallway.

I watched him go, standing unnoticed in the center of the depot courtyard, as other dwarves rushed around me. I'd hated that he’d left, but I was also so happy: happy for Talvi, happy I'd saved Lantern-jaw's life. I was so happy that I didn't hear the dwarf who was approaching from behind.

"Where did he go?" he asked brusquely, grabbing me by the arms and spinning me around to look in my face.
It was Mr Frog.
I stared at him, half in fear, half because I didn't know what he meant. "What?" I managed.
"Where did he go? Where did Urist go?" he asked urgently, shaking me slightly. I couldn't believe he wasn't killing me.
"I'm not sure what you mean..."
He looked so tired. Clearly, fighting women wasn’t something he did every day. "Urist, the new soldier from the caravan a few days ago, the one who attacked the Spawn a few minutes ago – where is he?"
My eyes widened as I realized who he meant. Urist, I thought, what a beautiful name.
Mr Frog shook me again. "Quickly!" he said.
My eyes refocused. "Sorry," I said, pointing down the hallway where I'd seen the lantern-jawed Urist disappear. “That way.”
The former overseer let go of me and marched away in that direction at a brisk pace, saying over his shoulder, "Don't think I'm through with you yet. I'm simply short on time. I'll be back."

As he walked away, I noticed that he'd removed his destroyed cloak. Watching him disappear into the darkness, I suddenly realized why he wore it: without the cape on, he seemed taller, somehow... taller than a dwarf. It struck me that maybe… maybe he wasn't a dwarf at all.

Then I remembered Talvi's envelope. She'd told me to open it if anything happened to her.
Hastily I retrieved the it from my blouse and slit the top, shaking the contents into my hand. Within it was an oddly designed key and a slip of parchment that read in Talvi's darkened scrawl, "Joseph must be stopped".

☆

edit: And I'm off. I'll be back eventually - don't let this thread die, guys! And stormtemplar, do your best to salvage this trainwreck and get some posts out! lol (I'm half-looking forwards finding out what epic, effed-up way it's going to end, but I really, really don't want it to happen while I'm not here. )

[Hanslanda]

Talvieno, I would like to nominate all three of those for decorations.

[Mr Frog]

It seems that the Universe really is conspiring to keep Talvieno off of the Internet   Next I'm guessing every single computer within ten miles of his residence will spontaneously combust.

Talvieno, you wouldn't happen to have any rocks covered in funny stick figures near your place of residence, would you? Dug up anything you shouldn't have? Because this is starting to go from 'uncanny coincidence' to 'possible demon haunting'

I now call you Talvi because your consternation amuses me. Plus I'm trying to see how long it takes for it to stop bothering you


I'm honestly starting to get sick of constantly waiting for updates... We as a thread seem to have made a bad habit of dragging our feet.

[Hanslanda]

Storm! Hurry it up! Argh.

And now with the newest Vanya updates, I have no idea where to take the Hans update. Logically, I'm going to post it anyway. Enjoy.

Story tiem with Hans

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 
Hans worked steadily, and carefully. He didn't want this whole contraption falling on him as he was building it. First he set the supports up, and then he dug out the level above in accordance with Splint's diagrams. When he finally was finished, nearly a whole day had passed and Hans was hungry. He hadn't seen anyone all day, but that didn't trouble him much. He'd never been much of a people person. Hans much prefered his own company and that of his beard to others.
He sat at the entrance to the dangerous hallway, eating a light lunch and drinking some fine beer, still somewhat puzzled over what the hallway was for. It didn't lead anywhere really, just reconnected with an old mining shaft with the main stairway on this level. As far as Hans could tell, no one ever came down here but to head toward the forges or the newly designed offensive corridors near the glorious adamantine veins. He shrugged and continued eating his meal when a sudden flurry of activity in the stairway caught his attention.
A strange cloaked dwarf came down the stairs swiftly. Following him was a strong looking, lantern jawed dwarf with a peculiar, blank expression and oddly stiff movements. They both walked in terse silence down the stairs past Hans. Next came Mr Frog, smelling of smoke and some other strange scents, his face set grimly in a haggard grimace as he nearly sprinted down the stairs.
Hans cocked his head, puzzling over this strange occurence. What on earth was going on here? After several long minutes, Hans finally decided he should follow the oddly behaved dwarves and see what was up.
He followed the echo of their footsteps through the stairways and into the winding trap corridors. Halfway into the labrynthian mass of corridors, he heard a faint pinging. Hans wasn't a skilled miner, but he recognized the sound of someone swinging a pick at stone and opening a hole between two chambers. His heart raced as he considered the possibilities of someone mining further into the adamantine vein, and he started running.
Ahead he heard shouting now, then silence, followed by speaking and a death rattle. Hans rounded the corner to see a brilliant blaze of light fading away, and three dwarves laying on the floor near the adamantine vein. A tiny hole was whistling merrily, letting warmed air into the fortress. Hans gasped and snatched up a large stone laying nearby. He rushed to the gap and plugged it up with the stone forcefully. Then he turned to the dwarves.
Mr Frog was apparently unconscious and gasping for air. His face was dark and ruddy, like he'd been deprived of air. The lantern jawed dwarf was laying on his back with a bloody dagger in one hand, and a broken spearpoint in the other, his eyes wide open and blankly staring at the ceiling. The strange dwarf was laying in a pool of blood next to Mr Frog, his throat laid open and little gouts of blood still spurting out. He was still, and obviously dead despite the small amounts of bleeding.
Hans knelt next to the prone soldier and slapped him across the face, "Oi! Hey!" He slapped him again, "What the bleeding hell happened in here?" Hans gave up after a few more slaps, and closed the stunned fellow's eyes roughly. He turned to Mr Frog, and shook the mechanic gently, "Mr Frog? Excuse me sir, but you need to wake up."
Frog groaned softly.
Hans shook him a bit more roughly, and spoke in a commanding tone, "Oi, getcher ass up or I'm getting the boss."
Frog's eyes fluttered open and he grumbled, "I wasn't sleeping, I just was resting my eyes. Don't tell the supervisor." He seemed to get his bearings after a moment and said, "Er, I didn't say anything strange did I?"
"Just talked about a supervisor." Hans shrugged.
Mr Frog nodded, "Oh, right. We need a medical team down here. I doubt I'll stay conscious for very long, that dwarf did a number on me. And Urist seems to be stunned."
Hans didn't pick up on the peculiarities in Mr Frog's speech, instead nodding and running back toward the stairs for help.
---
Mr Frog knelt by the dead dwarf, and rapidly searched the corpse. His rather thorough search turned up little of interest, just a strange necklace with what appeared to be a holy symbol on it, and a PEA that when turned on only showed a blank screen. Frog cursed to himself quite profusely as he searched the PEA for a hidden button or perhaps some hint of a passcode, but before he got a good look at it, he heard pounding footsteps. Frog tucked the PEA and necklace into his coin pouch and took a quick swig of a small flask. Within seconds, he passed out.
---
In a temporally removed location, a dwarf smiled to himself in the shadows and keyed off his screen. Everything was going quite swimmingly so far.

I have clue what any of that can mean, but its my story and I'm sticking to it. Until Frog comes in and says his character was all wrong.

[Splint]

Sorry for lack of any speech on my end. No caffiene and hauling heavy equipment bags for an apolsterer who's on orders not to lift heavy shit can lead so someone being asleep for roughly 16 hours.

Great work on the stories, and I'm gonna set a new poll up before I go to work.

[Hanslanda]

Poor Splint seems exhausted. 

[Aseaheru]

.....
WHY IS THIS SO INTEWRESTING?!?



WHY CANT I SPELL?!?

WHY AM I TIPING THIS USELESS COMENT?!?!

[Hanslanda]

Because, hey, divergent and convergent timelines.

Probably the booze. You've been drinking? Or were you not drinking? Either one can affect spelling.

Because you love Spearbreakers and you wanted to show support. Also, the booze thing...

[Aseaheru]

.....

[Hanslanda]

I rest my case.

[Splint]

It's amazing what 40 oz of Dr Pepper can do to keep a person awake.

EDIT: Rough version of a typical Ballpoint Technology Contractor's armor and attire. Yes, a tie is part of it, you'll know where it is and can tell as such. The gun is the Dwarven railgun, and the design Dorf!Mr Frog would be familiar enough with to copy.





And now some timewar.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"LZ Looks clear! I'm bringing us down!" The pilot said as the Mog Hopper lurched forward into descent. "Of course it's clear, no-one in thier right mind would live here with all the ghosts." A contractor said. "I heard the gods left a memorial to the fortress outside it's entrance... The gods man.... These dwarves must've really gone down kicking and screaming to get that kind of attention." ANother said. They'd all been exchanging glaces and stories they'd heard of that place.... Dwarves said that adventurers went there all the time to try and recover artefacts and never came back, that the ghosts oof its defenders seemed to shrug off even being memorialized to follow thier final orders to defend the fortress. Those rumors said that they had indeed been stubborn, but so stubborn and loyal to willingly stay on the mortal plane after death was frightening, And dwarven ghosts were always troublesome, but those here... SOme said they went so far as to posses thier own arms and armor...

"Alrioght, when we land, I want the following on me: Bugi, Koth, and Aret. The rest of you stay here and defend the Mog Hopper. If it gets smashed we'll have to walk all the way back to corporate and I don't think anyone here wants that." A small chorus of confimrations came back as the back door opened and the 22 contractors poured out, four going into the fortress' old wagon entrance. "Alright guys, we're on verbal and handisgn from here unless we get detected. I don't want any mistakes, so use your knives and swords before you resort to firing." Ecem said as they neered the first corner. ANd found themselves facing a graveyard.

Piles of rusted goblin armor and skeletons of all kinds, along with the occasional wagon frame littered the road, going on out of sight. "By Armok... This is horrible..." Aret said quietly. "The remains of a war long since fought everyone. Brush it off." Ecem said. He motioned for everyone to look down the next tunnel, a much thinner one. A drawbridge had falled, its rusted chains visible in the wall and showing where they had given out. They looked at all the rusting iron pikes in the floors, astonished at thier sheer number. Then Bugi cracked a flare and simply said "Anyone else wondering how deep these trenches are?" Everyone nodded and she tossed the flare, it going nearly a hundred feet before illumiating dozens of skeletons, some still spitted on pikes. "Holy shit..." Bugi said, while the other, aside from Ecem, simply stared in awe. SO many pikes, and so many skeletons on such a short stretch of ground. "Must've funneled them through here and massacred the survivors... Pretty smart for dwarves." Aret said, looking up at the gate. The group continued on, and noted something odd: A camera spike in the cieling. It was obviously not working, showing signs of rust and having some small mushrooms and cave vines growing around it, but clearly someone had been watching this gate at some point.

They went in, and found a broken down trading depot, made from glumprong and chestnut planks. It was strange in this continent. Good and evil seemed to just be words for biomes, with plants that grew only in good or evil places growing all over it with everything else. There were bags laden with old trade goods still haing from pillars, destroyed wagons and... a disturbing old butchur's shop, that had all manner of long dried blood on it, and all manner of bones, even those of sentient. It had a sign in dwarven that read: BOMBZERO'S SHOP. DO NOT DISTURB. REST EASY BOMBZERO.  "THis is... This is very disturbing." Koth muttered. They continued in, and began searching the hallways. Stockpiles stuffed with either mugs or mechanisims and unused furniture, that was either falling apart or in pristine shape with tarps over them. Bugi had found an office, the doors smashed down and broken mugs all against the wall across from a desk laden with old books. And more mugs. the name plackard had fallen off or been stollen at some point, so whoever used it clearly had anger issues. The most noticiable thing, was a display case with the name "Stova" just barely legible under it, and the outline of a warhammer. The dining room had alot of smashed furnishings, with the remains of several holisitc spawn in the piles. And the bedroom looked tidy, save the piles of mugs everywhere gathering dust. But one thing in particular caught her eye.  A very richly adorned toy boat.... She read about it in a history book, but couldn't recall the name. But she nicked it and stuffed it into her backpack, hoping no-one would notice. No ghosts, so perhaps the stories were just that? Stories.

They descended, as thier map directions said to and came to the living level. They looked at the halls around them, dusty, with vegetation just beginning to find spaces to take root. Skeletons of dwarves and... less dwarvenly creatures littered the place, the concentrations of remains and shattered rock warhammers and rusting dwarven mail became denser as they approached the dining hall. The rock doors where tron from thier hinges and piles od dead holistic spawn were everywhere with many a dead dwarf with a hammer. Finally Aret broke the silence, with a legitamte question:  "I thought this place was known for spears and pikes, not hammers..." "These weren't the soldiers." Was all Ecem said. And it was true. The bodies with armor wore crude iron or looted goblin mail, indicated by thier imagery of a long gone goblin nation. They hadn't seen any of the fortress soldiers' remains. They continued on, taking a beautiful pitchblende hammer encrusted with prase and decorated with emu bone spikes and a few of the more richly decorated mugs as souvenirs. They continued down a hall and made a right, coming to a door with two slots above it, one broken with a camer spike sticking out. "This is it. Koth. Thermals." Koth moved up and scanned it, disarming traps as she went. Someone had gone to great lengths to keep this room secure. AFter nearly thirty minutes of disarmming and a scare with a teller mine  ("Where the fuck would he have even gotten this!?" "Built it himself probably") they finally entered and looked around. Old chemicals sat on shelves, unused and probably tained. Airtight jars with research specimens fileld boxes and in a corner were mugs in a box that was labeled 'BIOHAZARD' and had thier middles burned out, indicating they'd been used with corrosive substances or just used one time too many with a boiler. There was a PEA inan open container, and while the grips were worn it wa sotherwise in good shape. And older model Ballpoint Tech stopped producing years ago. Ecem picked it up out of curiosity, and turned it on.

Which he hadn't expected it to do.

A face appeaered, a rather haggard looking man, whom Ecem recognized as the bioengineer who got that busload of hippies killed about twenty years ago. Mr Frog.

"Hello, whoever you are. Seems you were dumb or smart enough to come into my room. I can only assume you're contractors from Ballpoint, As nobody in thier right mind would come in here otherwise or make it in alive. I left this as a warning about the mission you're on. There's a fragmentation mine outside the old entry into the complex. You'll need a magnetic resonator to disarm it. And put this back if you would, I don't want you people touching my equippment without my permission, regardless of how badly it's degraded." The screen turned black, the message reading 'Preprogrammed shutdown. Goodbye.'

"Great. So he knew we'd be coming." Ecem said has he dropped the tablet into the box from whence it came. "I'd say we have a 99.99% chance of getting compeltly fucked when we go in." Bugi said as she looked around, and saw an open vent below a box of glass vials and old socks. "Found it! Still wanna proceed Sir?" SHe asked, secretly hoping he wouldn't.

"Pry the hatch open. We're doing our job." He said loudly in as confident a voice he could manage. This was it though, no going back...

Probably flopped Mr Frog's character, but meh. Whatever. Sorry bro.

[Hanslanda]

Bwahaha... I killed my phone with a lake. I hate my life. >.<

@Splint: Nice update man, I'm excited for the rest of the contractor's mission.